Our People
Parent Zone has a whole team of astonishingly talented people, each bringing their own skills and enthusiasms to helping families flourish in a digital age.
Vicki Shotbolt, CEO and founder
Vicki Shotbolt is the founder and CEO of Parent Zone, which she started in 2005 when mobile phones were things you used to make phone calls with. She often speaks publicly about parenting and digital issues and is on the executive board of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS). Vicki likes sailing and is proud rescuer and owner of Teddy the dog.
Sophie Linington, deputy CEO
Sophie joined Parent Zone in 2007 and has utilised her extensive experience in supporting parents and families in the development and management of a range of programmes at PZ over the years, including our partnership with the Home Office - Resilient Families, and Parent Info as well as designing and delivering training both internally and externally. She currently leads on social impact, and is driven by understanding and increasing the difference Parent Zone makes for families. She lives in Watford with her husband, two teenage sons, and a high maintenance cat.
Joe Shotbolt, chief financial officer
Joe heads up finance and operations at Parent Zone. He served in the Royal Marines for 16 years before going on to be a physiotherapist for the NHS and two football clubs. He joined Team PZ in 2012 and has been keeping the business ship-shape ever since! When he’s not at work, he puts us all to shame with his dedication to keeping fit – triathlons, pentathlons, skiing and sailing – or daydreams about being an astronaut.
Cliff Manning, creative director
Cliff has over twenty years' experience developing digital services that enable people to access help, connect with others and learn. He previously led on digital engagement for the Children's Commissioner for England. Cliff is an Associate for Carnegie UK Trust's youth digital inclusion programme #NotWithoutMe and he established 'More Than Robots’ - a platform for practitioners working with young people online. He still struggles to wire a plug...
Geraldine Bedell, executive editor
Geraldine is our Executive Editor, shaping content. Geraldine worked for 10 years as a writer at the Observer. Before that she was a columnist and writer for the Independent. She has written for most national newspapers and a wide range of magazines, and produced and presented documentaries for Radio 4. She was the founding editor of Gransnet and has published several books of fiction and non-fiction.
Calum Bradbury-Sparvell, editor
Calum looks after Parent Zone's content, including our resources and all the different ways we shout about our work. He joined us after several years in the charity sector, where he developed big campaigns like Children's Mental Health Week and launched a community hub. Calum studied History at Oxford, but music is what eats up most of his free time. On weekends and evenings, you'll probably find him making a racket on his trumpet... or listening to someone else's racket at a gig.
Yasmin Brooks, head of operations
Yasmin manages all Parent Zone products and services. She has a keen interest in the impact of digital technology on families and is continually reassessing and improving resources to best support families in this tricky area. Studying languages at university gave her a taste for travel. Her favourite place in the world is Venice. Unfortunately, our office is in a decidedly less romantic location - Angel, North London.
Megan Rose, head of partnerships
Megan is our head of partnerships, where her background in teaching comes in handy for ensuring all our projects run smoothly. She is passionate about Parent Zone's social impact and loves how it is achieved through the partnerships programme. Her latest interest is learning how policy can evolve in order to support children in their online world. When she isn’t working, you can find her at the gym, booking tickets to a West-End show or hunting for (yet another) pair of shoes…
Tamara Miller, head of digital
Tamara joined Parent Zone after ten years of working as a digital project manager and user-experience consultant in both Germany and the UK. An accomplished tech wiz - she is our go-to for anything digital. When she is not managing our digital services and team, you can find her at the gym training for her upcoming triathlon, or finessing the art of Thai boxing! As well as being a personal trainer and nutrition coach, Tamara is an early-bird, and the first point of call if you want a little motivation and a lot of exercise tips!
Rebecca Lee, executive assistant
Rebecca is the EA to Parent Zone’s CEO. She is passionate about educating young people in the fast-paced world of technology, and has been inspired by volunteering in schools and at an art charity in London. Originally an interior design wiz, you can either find her searching for her next innovation from her travels and love of nature to paint her up-and-coming masterpiece – or putting her stored energy into training for her next marathon.
Colin Wright, logistics manager
Colin brings his experience in hotel management and building skills to help manage our logistics. He loves sailing and is an enthusiastic volunteer with Visually Impaired Sailing Association-GB, who empower, motivate and encourage both blind and visually impaired people to enjoy getting stuck in and involved in something that’s great fun.
Marjun Ziarati, senior writer
Marjun is a writer and former modern languages teacher. She is responsible for producing content for Parent Zone platforms and corporate projects, as well as commissioning and editing articles. As a keen linguist, Marjun helps out with translation on our international projects. Having worked in Spain and Brazil, she is now obsessed with travel and all things Rio de Janeiro.
Torjus Roberg, junior writer
Torjus joined the Parent Zone team in July 2018 and works as a writer producing content for PZ services as well as corporate projects and keeps the organisation’s social media profiles alive. He studied Journalism with Media and Communication at Kingston University before joining Parent Zone. Outside of work, he is a bona fide cinephile and fan of most things pop-culture as well as being an avid music lover. He also has a secret desire to learn how to play banjo.
Annabel Walsh, designer
Annabel is Parent Zone’s in-house designer. With a degree in psychology, Annabel brings her mindreading skills to the content and digital teams, knowing instantly what we want an asset to look like! She is passionate about Parent Zone’s social mission and hopes to make an impact on children’s wellbeing online. When she isn’t working you can find her scoping out the next music festival or taking selfies with her dog Otis.
Simran Cheema, project officer
Simran joined Parent Zone in April 2018 and works in the corporate team. Having worked and studied abroad, she is always looking to book her next adventurous holiday which has previously seen her meet polar bears in Alaska.
Tim Malster, trainer
Tim Joined the team in April 2018, having taught Music Technology for 17 years. Tim works in schools delivering the Be Internet Legends assemblies as well as a number of other projects. When not working he enjoys spending time in his recording studio, and hopes to get around to writing some new material soon..!
Alex Seltsin, web developer
Alex is our go-to-guy for all things technical. Although this is his first job in the UK, he's already made huge improvements to our website and is currently developing new, exciting areas for our members. In his spare time he enjoys playing a variety of sports - particularly swimming, basketball and volleyball - and is a major lover of all things Peter Jackson.
Monique Pink, schools outreach coordinator
Monique joined Parent Zone as a schools outreach coordinator for the delivery team. She has a keen interest in education, youth and community development and has a background in teaching English and Drama. Outside of work, you can find her in a dance studio or a local Karaoke near you! She likes to think of herself as the Beyonce of East London..Until Monday morning comes along.
Kawthar Ali, schools outreach coordinator
K joined Parent Zone as a schools outreach coordinator. Our go-to-girl for connecting with schools and planning logistics, K joined Parent Zone as she wants to make a positive impact on the lives of others and help improve the wellbeing of everyone in our digital world. Outgoing and chatty, K spends her time outside of work as a freelance writer, particularly enjoying spoken word poetry. Always looking for her next adventure, she loves to travel and explore different cultures and traditions!
Anna Lindsay, content intern
Anna joined Parent Zone as an intern on the content team. Having studied communications with media at University of the Arts London, she hopes to encourage those in education to flourish digitally both in and out of a school setting. When she isn’t working you can find her absorbing feminist literature, at her local pub, eating cheetos for dinner or attempting (and failing) to dance along to her favourite band One Direction. She lives in Tooting with her best friend and plans to eventually own a cat called Gerard.
Samual Stuart, research intern
Sam joined Parent Zone as a research intern. Working across social impact, policy and digital; Sam got his masters in philosophy and public policy at LSE before bringing his research skills to us. Fascinated by the human and social consequences of emerging technology, Sam hopes to improve the social impact of digital progression on young people. When he isn’t working, you’ll find Sam brewing the best cup of tea in town. He hopes to one day own a greyhound called Earl (extra brownie points for those who get the pun).
Ed Pilcher, policy intern
Ed studied History at Durham University before joining Parent Zone as a policy intern. Excited by the scope for change in policy work, he never fails to impress us with his engagement in the Be Internet Legends Programme. When he’s not at work you can find him discussing all the latest sports happenings and trying to find London’s best cheap eats.
